Don’t let the long name fool you, BOFURI is a really entertaining watch. And the best part? It’ll fill your heart with all the good vibes. Trust me, you need more anime like BOFURI in your life. So, what do you say, you down for some wholesome anime watching?
BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense. (Itai no wa Iya nano de Bougyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu.) might have a really long name, but I swear to you: if you watch it, the time will pass really quickly! Consequently, we need to fill the voids in our hearts with more wholesome anime like BOFURI. The good news is that I have just the cure for you!
BOFURI is a Japanese light novel series written by Yuumikan and illustrated by Koin which got adapted into anime and aired in the Winter of 2020.
The story revolves around Kaede Honjou, a young girl who’s never played any games before. But all that changed when her hardcore gamer friend convinced her to buy the VRMMORPG NewWorld Online.
But since Kaede was scared of getting hurt, she chose a shield-class character and put all her talent points into defense.
Now, that might seem like a rookie move, but it pays off when Kaede gets her hands on an overpowered skill called “Absolute Defense”. With this spell, she can nullify all damage and is ready to go on some wild adventures in NewWorld Online.
Read also: BOFURI Light Novel Review
Here is a list of 7 wholesome anime that are just like BOFURI.
7. Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne!
- Genres: Comedy, Fantasy
- Episodes: 12
Similarities
Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne! is another kawaii anime like BOFURI with an OP female MC.
It’s a series filled with cute girls doing cute things with a splash of fantasy and comedy.
Synopsis
Misato Kurihara has lived her whole life as a loner, without the experience of having a normal life due to her exceptional character. However, her life takes a drastic turn one day, when she dies and gets transported to a divine realm to be reincarnated and granted one wish. She wishes to get a life where she can be a normal, average person and experience ordinary life.
Instead, she gets reborn as Adele von Ascham, a noble daughter that possesses magic powers that are in no way average. Still not giving up on her “regular life wish”, she leaves her comfortable home and enrolls at a hunter school in a faraway kingdom using a different name. Despite all her efforts, it seems like it’s going to be really difficult to hide her overpowering potential!
6. Net-juu no Susume (Recovery of an MMO Junkie)
- Genres: Game, Comedy, Romance
- Episodes: 10
Similarities
Both anime are set in an MMORPG game where you can customize your character according to your liking and explore the magical world together with your friends; you also have a chance to log out whenever you feel like it and continue your real life.
Synopsis
Moriko Morioka decides to quit her stressful corporate job and becomes a NEET. She downloads an online MMORPG game called Fruits de Mer and creates a male character named Hayashi.
While playing the game, she meets an adorable pink-haired character, Lily, who is a high level and helps her to learn the game. The two become friends and become a part of the same guild, @HomeParty. Meanwhile, in reality, Moriko meets a good-looking elite company employee, Yuta Sakurai, who might know her better than she anticipated.
5. Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku (Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody)
- Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Harem
- Episodes: 12
Similarities
Another anime with lighthearted and wholesome vibes similar to Bofuri is Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody.
They are both set in an MMORPG-like world and have a good amount of enjoyable adventures.
Synopsis
Ichirou Suzuki is a programmer nearing his thirties who one day after falling asleep wakes up trapped in a fantasy world that is a combination of the MMORPG games he was debugging previously in real life. Except for the change of his name, which becomes Satou, he is also having the appearance of his younger, 15-year-old self.
Without having time to think of what happened, Satou gets attacked by an army of lizardmen, forcing him to instinctively use his ability. To his surprise, he wipes them completely and his level is boosted to 310, maximizing his stats. Now, with no way to return to reality and overpowered stats, Satou embarks on a journey to explore this new magical world.
4. Accel World
- Genres: Action, Game, Sci-Fi, Romance, School
- Episodes: 24
Similarities
They are both shows taking place in virtual reality (VRMMORPG game) with the ability to log out. The main protagonists of the anime have similar ages and are aiming to become really powerful in the game while uncovering its mysteries.
Synopsis
Haruyuki Arita is an overweight, bullied middle schooler who finds solace in playing online games. But his life takes a drastic turn one day when he finds that all his high scores have been topped by Kuroyukihime, the popular vice president of the student council. She then invites him to the student lounge and introduces him to “Brain Burst,” a program that allows users to accelerate their brain waves to the point where time seems to stop. Brain Burst also functions as an augmented reality fighting game, and in order to get more points to accelerate, users must win duels against other players. However, if a user loses all their points, they will also lose access to Brain Burst forever.
Kuroyukihime explains that she chose to show Haruyuki the program because she needs his help. She wants to meet the creator of Brain Burst and uncover the reason of why it was created, but that’s easier said than done; to do so, she must defeat the “Six Kings of Pure Color,” powerful faction leaders within the game, and reach level 10, the highest level attainable. After the girl helps Haruyuki overcome the bullies that torment him, he vows to help her realize her goal, and so begins the duo’s fight to reach the top.
(Source: MAL)
3. Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (The Rising of the Shield Hero)
- Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
- Episodes: 25
Similarities
Like BOFURI, The Rising of the Shield Hero is an anime set in a fantasy world with the MC who specializes in defense and fights with a shield.
Synopsis
Naofumi Iwatani, an easygoing Japanese youth, was summoned into a parallel world along with three other young men from parallel universes to become the world’s Cardinal Heroes and fight inter-dimensional hordes of monsters called Waves. Each of the heroes were respectively equipped with their own legendary equipment when summoned. Naofumi happened to receive the Legendary Shield, the sole defensive equipment, while the other heroes received a sword, a spear, and a bow, weapons meant for the attack. Unlike the other heroes who are fully supported by the kingdom and gain several strong allies each, Naofumi’s luck turns to the worse after his single companion, revealed to be the kingdom’s Princess, betrays him, steals all his belongings, and leaves him devoid of all assistance and supplies after she falsely accuses him of sexually assaulting her.
Mocked by the nobility and shunned by everyone from his fellow Heroes to peasants, a now cynical Naofumi is forced to train as a hero alone while working to make ends meet, until he buys from a slave trader a young tanuki demi-human girl named Raphtalia and an egg that hatches into a bird-like monster whom he names “Filo”, both quickly growing into adulthood and becoming powerful warriors under his care. As they little by little gain the trust and gratitude of the people with their heroic actions, Naofumi, and his companions work together to carry out their mission as saviors of the world as they unravel the mystery of the Waves and Naofumi deals with his inner darkness.
(Source: Wikipedia)
2. Log Horizon
- Genres: Action, Game, Adventure, Magic, Fantasy
- Episodes: 25
Similarities
Both shows are set in a VRMMORPG game with all the typical MMORPG activities you would expect. Log Horizon is a lot like Sword Art Online (below) minus the fact that you can’t really die in the game, so it makes it really similar to BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense.
Synopsis
30 000 Japanese players along with several hundreds of thousands of players worldwide get trapped in an MMORPG game called Elder Tale with no route out.
What used to be once a game played only for fun is now their new real life.
1. Sword Art Online
- Genres: Action, Adventure, Romance, Fantasy, Game
- Episodes: 25
Similarities
SAO is among the most similar anime to BOFURI as they are both taking place in a realistic VRMMORPG game.
The MCs of these series are special in their unique way of fighting compared to other players, and they are both OP.
Despite their different vibes, these anime share a lot of similarities when it comes to the exploration of the game world itself with everything that belongs to it. This includes leveling up and obtaining gear by killing monsters and completing quests.
In general, they have a World of Warcraft feel to them.
Synopsis
The anime takes place in the year 2022 when every gamer’s dream became real – gamers are able to connect to an MMORPG game called Sword Art Online through helmed called NerveGear, which can simulate user’s senses via their brain and thus they can experience and control their in-game character with their minds.
The main character named Kazuto Kirigaya (Kirito’s in-game name) is a very keen gamer and so he is, of course, hyped to join the world (even though he was already beta-testing SAO before). 10 000 players who logged in the first time soon find out that the mad creator disabled the logout button and the only way how to get out is to beat 100 floors of Aincrad where are dangerous creatures, bosses and the outside world is often hostile as well because players are not always good people.
To make things more complicated, if your health bar in the game drops to zero you also die in real life too.
What could go wrong, right?
